Characters and backstory of Xena: Warrior
Princess are the property of Renaissance/MCA/Studios USA. This story
is not meant to infringe upon their rights. This story was not written for
monetary gain. Anything not copyrighted to the above mentioned parties is
copyrighted to me. If you wish to archive or link this story, please
contact me.

Content Disclaimers

This story is rated

PGfor mentioned violence.

This story contains themes and descriptions of a
loving, sexual relationship between two consenting adult women. This story is intended for a mature audience
with an open mind. If it is illegal for you to read this story for any
reason at all, please close this web page and find something that is legal for
you to read.

Author's Note

This is another piece that ended up being a part
of the Sacrifice for LoveSeries. I really did like writing
about how they were going to bring Gabrielle back.

Spoilers:

Too many to mention all episodes: Third season, Adventures in the Sin
Trade, A Family Affair

The acolytes that operated the hospice went about their duties as the cloaked man wove his way through the pallets that lined the floor. Few spared him a glance; he had been coming every day since he delivered the small blonde woman into their care.

The man looked down at the pale woman who was blissfully unaware of his presence. He shuddered slightly when he thought of what she would do if she ever woke to find him near.

"She has not regained consciousness yet."

Looking at the young acolyte who came to stand on the other side of the young woman's pallet, the man nodded. Ignoring the caretaker that quickly left them alone, he took the sick woman's hand in his own and squeezed it gently. Lowering his head, he whispered, "Gabrielle."

Gabrielle moved restlessly, moaning and crying out for her daughter. She calmed when the man caressed her brow softly. Her eyes began to flutter open and she searched for the source of comfort.

The mysterious man nodded to himself. He squeezed the bard's hand once more before releasing it and standing. "You have to go home," he said quietly. "Xena needs you. You must save her from...my son."

The bard's eyes opened wide; she sat abruptly and inhaled as if to scream.

Acolytes, seeing that the beautiful young woman had awakened, rushed to her side. They fussed over her, offering her water and broth.

Unnoticed by anyone, the man silently made his way out of the hospice. Once outside, he moved into the deep shadows cast by the temple and lowered his hood. He leaned back against the cool temple walls and recounted the events that had led him thus far.

He tried to warn Xena about the temple in Britannia.

The warrior, however, bitter over his latest scheme to seduce her back into his fold, dismissed his words; she was focused on Caesar and the Roman's downfall. As a result, her annoying friend was manipulated into losing her blood innocence and was raped by a foreign deity.

His attempts to use Gabrielle's fragile state of mind against her in Chin failed. In the end, the bard's desire to forgive Xena outweighed her jealousy and belief that the warrior had failed her.

He had underestimated the good that far outweighed the darker emotions of her heart, as well as her love for Xena.

When they worked together to fix the chaos caused by Aphrodite's enchanted scroll; he saw the changes in her. She was not the naive little girl anymore. He still thought she was irritating, but to his consternation, he also realized why his favorite warrior had fallen so deeply in love with her.

Gabrielle was an enchanting woman full of compassion and a love for life. She intrigued him. He sought to use her to get Xena back.

But then, her daughter returned to Greece, full of plans to destroy the world and the woman who had abandoned her. Hope convinced Callisto to help her with the promise of redemption. The goddess blinded by the desire silence the mad voices in her head, agreed to keep Hercules from being born. She only wanted to save her family from Xena's army.

After Callisto killed Strife, he was more than eager to thwart their plans.

In the end, however, Hope still lived and Strife was still dead. Callisto had been trapped in the vortex, but even he knew that she would not stop until Xena suffered for her past.

And, like a bad nightmare, Hope and Callisto came back again. Gabrielle's daughter had gathered a group of followers that were willing to give their lives for her rebirth.

At first, he had visions of a great battle between his forces and Dahak's. When the other god appeared to him with the offer of dominion at his side, Ares had reconsidered. There was no better place to get revenge for Strife's death than at the right hand of the one who had caused it.

He fought against the subservient position in which he found himself. He was an Olympic god, not some lackey to an over-rated ball of flame. When he learned of Dahak's plans for Xena's death, however, he steeled himself to play their game. In order to execute his own agenda, he went along, even if Dahak's plans included impregnating Gabrielle's daughter.

He only wanted to save Xena from Atropos' shears. He told Gabrielle of Dahak's plans to end her life if she killed Hope. He never imagined that the bard would sacrifice herself to save her lover - the woman they both desired.

When she died, he was satisfied, although confused at the emptiness he felt with her loss. He assumed it was because he was picking up on Xena's emotions. At the time, all he was concerned about was that Hope and Callisto were dead and Xena was alive. Strife's death was avenged and he had his warrior.

He never figured on how deeply Xena would feel Gabrielle's loss. He never understood the strength of their love.

When he realized that the warrior was ready to forfeit her own life to be rejoined with Gabrielle, Ares was more than determined to keep them both in the realm of the living. He justified his actions, argued with himself, saying that he would not be able to seduce Xena back to the darkness if she were in the Amazons' Eternity. In order to keep her alive, he had to keep the bard alive.

That had been the easy part. All he had done was kept her out of Dahak's clutches. He went back in time and kept her from falling into his enemy's hands. Blanking her memory of his involvement took a mere flick of his wrist. The acolytes saw delivering her to the hospice for her recovery as a charitable act.

He visited the bard every day, waiting for the moment when she would awake. He knew he was losing a battle to some softer emotion that was foreign to his experience. He had known lust, power, revenge...but never the need to hold and comfort another being.

Now that Gabrielle was awake, he hoped that his suggestion to help Xena had been planted firmly. The gods of Olympus were unsettled by the presence of Hope. She had given birth to her son, the Destroyer and had returned to Gabrielle's village to recover and to plan.

He knew that the only person to end it once and for all was Xena. He grinned evilly for a moment as he considered her ability to finish things. She would need Gabrielle to end Dahak's threat to his own dreams of power. She would do anything to protect the bard; to avenge everything the traumatized woman had been through because of Dahak.

Love, when manipulated in the right fashion, was a powerful weapon.

After Hope and the Destroyer were eliminated, he would resume his quest to bring Xena back to him. Now, however, he just had to make sure that Gabrielle and Xena were reunited. He would be damned if he let another god win at his game.

Getting them together was about revenge and winning a war, not about the love that perplexed him. With Dahak out of the picture, there was plenty of time to have fun with his favorite playthings.

Shaking his head, Ares disappeared. His chuckle echoed quietly through the trees. "Enjoy your reunion while you can, my dear Xena. I'll be seeing you soon."